Waterlogged
by nobodymuch
Summary: It's just what happens when Demyx is sent to Atlantica...and happens to come across a certain little mermaid. [Crack pairing: Arimyx. ArielXDemyx.]
1. Morning Routines

**A/N:** Wow. I really need to stop chugging out the new fan fictions.

But you see, I've had the idea for this for awhile lately. And ohmygosh, it's a CRACK pairing, in the eyes of most people.

DemyxXAriel.

But before you scream and run off, just think about how likely it is. Think of all the things they'd have in common.

Now read the fic.

And maybe when you're done, you'll have become just as much of an Arimyx fanatic as I am.

Or, maybe you'll just shove your leftover Christmas turkey in my face. Oh well. I like turkey.

I know it's a day after Christmas, but...other holidays are still going on. And so this ISN'T a late present. It's just a...present for the holidays. Yeah. Let's go with that.

By the way, you might notice that this fic of mine is set in the first person, from Demyx's point of view. This is quite a leap from my usual third person. But you see, I was inspired by Vixen. Ah yes, my dear friend Vixen. Do go read her story, "Repercussions of Femininity" when you get the chance.

Her stories are often first person, and so I wanted to give it a shot myself.

After all, what's a writer if they don't learn some things from other writers?

Oh. And this story's dedicated to my three kick-butt friends--Issa, Greaseh, and Vixen. Vixen for being the best writer this century, Greaseh for being an amazing friend and awesomistic roleplayer, and Issa for being the greatest friend I've ever known.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Duh, people. All characters are property of Squeenix.

**

* * *

**

**Waterlogged**

**Morning Routines**

Okay, okay. I know I'm pretty much written down for the rest of my life as having a…_slight_ obsession with water. But hey, it's not like I can help it any more than Axel can help that he's our very own private arsonist.

Still, hear me out. I know what all of you think—that you'd just LOVE to see me as a mermaid…er, man. You all are so sure I'd have a spree if I ever visited Atlantica, right? That me plus an entire world underwater would equal some sort of heaven for me?

Well, then you should all know. I've been there, done that.

And it didn't exactly turn out with the happiest of endings.

You see, what made it complicated was that…there was this girl. Maybe you've heard of her?

Her name was Ariel.

I knew her, all right. They just always leave me out of the stories that they tell you, though. I don't know why. I keep telling everyone we have hearts, after all. I keep telling them we're not _completely_ worthless.

Still. When you're labeled as a nobody, quite literally, it's easy for everyone to forget you when they tell an epic tale of good and evil.

I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself, though.

Maybe I should just explain what _really_ happened the one and only time I ever visited Atlantica.

Oh, and don't give me that look. I can tell a story. I'm not the complete idiot you all portray me as either, so don't act so surprised.

---

"ROOOOOXXAS!"

I gave a huge grin as the yell escaped from my mouth while I fled for my non-existent life.

I must admit, I'm proud of my vocal cords. I don't practice on my Sitar twice a day, every day, listen to my headphones with the volume up as loud as it will go, or scream as long as my lungs will permit (Do keep in mind that I don't even need to breathe quite like you Somebodies do) into a hairbrush each morning for no reason.

I can yell. I can scream. I can sing too, though considering no one has ever shown the slightest spark of interest in hearing me since before I even lost my heart to those confounded shadow creatures, I don't exactly do this feat in front of others very often at all.

You might very well be wondering why I was running.

Well, put simply—Axel had been dry about two and a half minutes ago.

Please. Note the key word there: _had._

There are certain things I take to be my responsibility every morning in the Castle That Never Was (Don't you just love how original Xemnas is in the naming process?). Brushing my teeth, spending an hour or so fixing my hair that you _know_ you're jealous of, and devouring most anything edible found in our kitchen until Xaldin's forced to go rob the local non-existent grocery store for more food happen to all be on my list each and every day.

As is annoying the crap out of Axel.

And as I've found: It's quite easy to rub the aforementioned pyro's nerves raw when you control the element of water.

There's just one little problem, though. You see, even though I'd just drenched the red-haired nobody head to toe with ten or so of my handy-dandy water clones, hence preventing him from any usage of fire against me…his little pinwheels of doom can still tear my ass to shreds with or without any fire-related help.

Thus, I have perfected the art of running.

Of course, I still need a little help so as not to spend the rest of my day running in endless circles around the castle like some repeat of a Tom and Jerry—in which case, I would be the hunted little mouse.

So there's your explanation on why I was running, and on why I was calling for the help of the only one ever able to talk any sense at all into our rather murderous pyromaniac—the best friend.

When I failed to see the mass of blond spikes I'd been hoping for, I cleared my throat while I expertly ran, deciding to try again in the unlikely chance he hadn't heard me.

"ROOOOOOOOX—"

"Demyx shut up and STOP yelling. I heard you the first time."

I skidded to a stop, enjoying the small squeals my boots emitted as they searched for friction on the spotless white floor, coming to a halt just in time, and right in front of just the person two feet shorter than me that I'd been eager to find.

"Did you soak him _again_?!" the only nobody younger than myself inquired with a frown on his face.

I blinked my turquoise eyes once or twice in what I hoped looked like a clueless manner. "Whatever would give you that idea?" I smiled innocently.

"DEMYX! I'M GOING TO RIP YOU LIMB FROM LIMB AND THEN LET SAÏX EAT WHAT'S LEFT OF YOU!!" screeched the enraged voice of a dripping-wet pyromaniac.

I, out of habit, shuddered, though I knew Xemnas wouldn't allow Axel to carry on with such a threat. Still, the mentioning of Saïx devouring my internal organs wasn't exactly a pleasant one.

Then I turned to face Roxas again, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly. "…Help a guy out, old buddy, old pal?"

Roxas grumbled something inaudibly under his breath, something about how one of these days he just wasn't going to protect me anymore and leave me to face whatever danger I'd brought upon myself on my own.

I brushed his comments aside, though. Roxas was too compassionate to do something like that, and he knew it as well as I did.

Hardly a moment later, Axel rounded the corner, and let me tell you, he was smoking.

Oh, get your minds out of the gutter, you perverts. I don't mean like _that_. Ewwwww.

No, I mean he was _literally_ smoking. Since I'd put the water and everything, he'd been obviously trying to dry himself off as best he could by raising his own temperature through his 'Flame-On' action.

Of course, the whole attempt was only turning out to be a smoky process, and he was only succeeding in sizzling like a campfire that you extinguish the next morning through pouring what's left of the soft drinks you brought with you on the trip over it.

Upon catching sight of me, Axel's already enraged face twisted into even more of a snarl. "I hope you're ready to die AGAIN," he growled at me, stomping in my direction quickly.

However, just before he could reach me, good old Roxas stepped in between the two of us.

"Axel…" the blond started with a sigh.

The pyro's snarl changed into one of a little less anger and a little more annoyance.

"You're protecting him AGAIN?!" His teal eyes shot in my direction angrily, narrowed down to the point where they looked like slits.

I waved at him cheerily from my safe position behind Roxas.

Roxas shook his head slowly. "Axel, Demyx can't help that he's an idiot."

I opened my mouth to protest that comment, but upon remembering the little detail that Roxas happened to be the one saving my butt, I bitterly kept my aforementioned big fat mouth shut tight.

"Roxas, he does this EVERY day. I _don't_ enjoy water. At all," the red-head emphasized.

Oh really, Axel? I hadn't noticed. No, I never even thought back to how before I came up with my little routine of drenching you every day you stank like a dirty pig because you refused to shower.

Yes, I decided, it was rather good I was keeping these thoughts to myself.

"I know," Roxas groaned at his friend. "You can't just murder him, though…Superior doesn't allow any members to murder other members."

That's right. Because if he did, he'd only be able to keep Organization members around for all of five minutes, and that would be if he was _lucky_.

"That's right," a new voice spoke. "I'm afraid you're not allowed to harm Number IX, Axel."

All three of us turned to see Xemnas stepping through one of our handy-dandy portals of darkness and into the blindingly white hallway of the Castle That Never Was.

"Xemnas," Axel stated, not bothering with any titles like "Sir" or "Superior". The red-head never really had been big on respect.

Xemnas flinched, but let it slide. Axel was too valuable a member to chastise _too_ much.

I silently wondered why I was never allowed to address the higher-ups in such a manner and decided to make my own breakthrough on that issue.

"Hiya Xemmy!" I remarked with good cheer.

What I got was a glare in return, one that quite plainly stated I was NOT allowed to call him that, lest I be asking for having to endure spear training with Xaldin.

Trust me. NOT a fun experience.

Xemnas finally cleared his throat as the three of us lesser nobodies waited around in silence, Axel sulkily self-drying himself, little wisps of smoke still curling up from him every now and then.

"Might you explain to me why the two of you," here he paused and sent both myself and Axel stern looks, "are enjoying bellowing at the top of your lungs? Perhaps I should remind you of how many of the other Organization members value their silence?"

Axel crossed his arms, tapping his foot in an irritated manner. "Don't blame _me_. Blame that water-loving idiot over there for drenching me head-to-toe with water purposely. This isn't the first time it's happened either," he spat out.

The Superior arched one eyebrow curiously, plainly thinking: So THAT explains the smoke…

Then he turned towards me, and I wanted to writhe under the second glare I was receiving.

"I think, perhaps…it's time we discussed your troublesome behavior when here with the rest of the Organization," Xemnas finally stated, voice carefully monotone, even though I could tell it was only to cover up how annoyed he was with me.

"In fact, it would probably be a good idea if we were to discuss your behavior in general, Number IX."

I paled. Oh crap. I was done for, no better than a shriveled up piece of toast stuck to the side of some rampant, demon toaster. He was going to turn me back into a Dusk, let Xaldin have his stabby way with me, or worse, make me assist to tending Marluxia's garden.

I do believe my left eye was twitching by that point. Maybe you're not familiar with this little tidbit of information, but our Graceful Assassin has a tendency towards _carnivorous_ plants.

And yet he's a vegetarian himself.

How I loathe irony.

Either way, don't you start to think that we were always just thirteen members. Once upon a time, we had somewhere around seventeen members.

What happened to them? Plants, I'm telling you. The friggin' PLANTS ate them.

Marluxia's got the regurgitated shoes to prove it.

I wanted nothing more than to scream my trademark "RUN, RUN AWAY!" 'battle' cry—but of course, wherever I went, I could be tracked down through the usage of portals, and though I can kick butt when it comes to running, I never was a talented child at hide-and-seek.

Plus, I really wasn't in the mood to raise some crappy dramatic scene anyways.

So there was only one thing left for me to say.

"Y-yes sir…"

Oh. I guess I forgot to mention how I really stutter when I'm nervous. Or afraid for the wellbeing of my not-quite life.

Xemnas drew up another portal, no doubt one that led to the Room of Decidable Fates. That was his oh-so-poetic name for his _office_. The very sound of it made me feel as though I was a child again, getting sent to the principal's office.

With my head hanging low and my fear of plants at an all-time high, I followed the Superior into the portal that led to the realm of nothingness, the last thing I saw being the rather satisfied face of Axel. As soon as I was in, the previous portal closed, right as another opened up.

Xemnas didn't hesitate to walk on through, and I gave a heavy sigh before following once more, so as to hear my punishment.

* * *

**A/N:** This was shorter than I planned on it being, but don't worry. I'll update it soon because I've already got an idea of how the entire first part of the story is going to go. 

You all should know my drill by now. Five reviews, or NO update at all. And no pestering me to update even if it's after I've got five reviews. Or I'll shove your face down my paper shredder.

Oh, and to also follow in Vixen's footsteps, and an added bonus for reviewing, I'll respond to whatever comments and thoughts you'd like to share in your reviews right here in the Author's Note after every chapter.

But since this is only the first chapter and thus this story has no reviews yet, that'll have to wait till the NEXT chapter, you geniuses.

**_Think of this new fan fic as your present, folks. Happy holidays to you all. And if you're wondering what to get me, well.../Reviews/ would be fine. :3_**


	2. Punishment

**A/N: **Okay, so some of you are wondering what took me so long to update. Well, newsflash: For me, this is _quick_.

Happy New Year, Auld Lang Syne, yadda, yadda, yadda. You get the point.

Besides, this was just in time for my birthday. Which is this coming Sunday, January fourteenth.

For those of you that care (Not many, I'm guessing.) I'll be fourteen. Wheee.

Anyways. Yes. I've got a new chapter out. Don't worry, he'll meet Ariel soon enough, so hold your horses.

I thank all of you who reviewed, and do not fear, I'll respond to each of you individually at the second author's note that I always leave at the end of each chapter.

I'm not putting a disclaimer on any more chapters since there's already one on the first chapter.

**

* * *

**

**Punishment**

Xemnas makes a good leader of our Organization. No, really, he does.

I mean, if you discount his psychotic dreams of achieving godhood and his unusual obsession with anger and rage, he's a great leader. He tries hard at his job at the very least, which is more than I can say for Luxord, who'd rather play poker on the job and drink rum with pirates than remember to collect hearts for our cause.

However, I could not get over Xemnas' office. Oh. Excuse me. I meant the 'Room of Decidable Fates', of course.

It would be my guess that each and every object in the room was meant to symbolize how we Nobodies were only half a person.

How did I know this? Well, gee. It might have had something to do with the fact that every object in there was sliced in half in some manner, whether it was diagonal, horizontal, or vertical.

The brilliant color coordination scheme consisted of the oh-so-surprising grays, blacks, and whites.

I swear, even the Snickers bar located on the desk was divided in half. Of course, that could have just been because our Superior got hungry. Oh well.

Perhaps the room was supposed to cause a serious effect of some sort. More than likely it was made to constantly remind our non-existent subconscious of what we were.

But all I could think of right now as I awkwardly balanced on my half-a-seat was that the room was ridiculously similar to Willy Wonka's own office.

Hmm. Maybe there _are_ quite a few similarities between that insane owner of a chocolate factory and our own dear Xemmy, now that I think about it. I'll have to ponder this rather profound realization later.

In any case, as I sat twiddling my thumbs, picking at a few loose strings that popped up every so often on my uniform black gloves, I must say that I was quite lucky that as a Nobody, I'm unable to sweat.

No water in this empty shell that is my body equals no profuse perspiring.

Memories of my other, from back quite a long time ago, possibly even to say when the world was new, seeing as Xemnas slapped together the World That Never Was not too terribly long ago, are quite fuzzy. However, I do remember sweating…a lot. It usually occurred when I was nervous about something.

And sitting here, I was definitely nervous for what precious sliver of not-quite life I had. Good thing that dying had kicked that sweaty habit of mine to the curb.

I doubt Xemnas would enjoy having a nice big stain of perspiration on his half-stool.

It took a few more minutes of almost unbearable, awkward silence, but finally, our silver-haired dictator took note of my presence once more, when he was done with shuffling through a few half-sheets of paper on which was written some illegible scrawl.

Wow. And I thought my handwriting was bad.

"Number IX. Please state to me your reasoning for behaving in an immature, childish way to your superiors and to your fellow Organization members on a daily basis, so that we may sort out this matter and come up with a suitable method of ensuring that everyone is pleased in the future," he recited to me.

Holy mother of fish paste (And don't you make fun of my surprised exclamations.). He really did just say all of that to me in one breath.

When my brain finally managed to process what exactly the Superior had just said to me—seriously, who really _talks_ like that anymore—I winced slightly, though went on to answer so as to not annoy him further.

"Sir, I'm just…"

Here I paused. Why exactly _did_ I feel the need to annoy people so much?

It wasn't as though I purposely tried to startle Xaldin into dropping his spear so it hit Zexion's shin, or distract Vexen to the point where one of his nasty little experiments blew the whole of his laboratory wall into oblivion.

I only carried out such eccentric behavior as acting like a complete idiot with good purposes in mind. Even if the results were never quite as good as I pictured when I started out. I blame my incredibly naïve and way-too-optimistic manner for my trying again and again.

"Sir, I suppose I just want to…liven the place up a bit." Okay. So that wasn't the best word usage. "Excuse me. I just would like to cheer everyone up once in a while," I corrected myself.

"It did not cross your mind that perhaps not everyone here desires cheering up? More specifically, _your_ methods of…'cheering them up'?"

Though I did keep my mouth clamped shut tight, I felt the sting of his remark and desperately wanted to respond. Why was it that none of my fellow Organization members seemed to understand that it was practically my unofficially designated job to try everything I knew in the book to yank them out of their depths of despair?

We each had our coined statuses. Saïx was a bringer of fear. Please take my word for it—you don't want to get on the bad side of an angry berserker. The only one who has ever managed to taunt Saïx and live to tell the tale is Axel. And that's only because he practices by teasing Larxene first.

Marluxia was our bringer of cannibalistic plants and herbal fragrances.

Okay…so yes, he'd probably impale me with his frightening pink scythe (Or worse by far, feed me to those wretched plants he treats as pets. I shudder at the thought) was I to say that to his face.

One could probably say, truthfully speaking, that he was our bringer of suspicion. Before he joined our humble Organization, we never hesitated to speak out about anything that crossed our minds, and we always expected that the rest of our members did the same.

And then the Graceful Assassin came, and with his haughty, superior attitude, and ability to say the most appalling things in the most gracious manner, the rest of us slowly began to lose what little trust we had built up between each other. Even still we always stare at others in a slight apprehension that never fades, wondering what secrets they might be keeping from us.

So yes, I was definitely a bringer of something to the Thirteenth Order—more than likely, everyone else would classify it as annoyance, but I'd like to think of it as cheerfulness.

When I failed to answer, Xemnas exhaled heavily, which only served to remind me of what a problem I was thought of by my so-called-friends.

"Number IX, no matter what punishments have been thrust upon you in the past, you still insist upon behaving…childishly. You simply refuse to learn any valuable lesson that we try to teach to you."

I drummed the gloved fingers of one hand along one sleeve of my cloak. I didn't dare drum them along the wood of the desk, for fear I would only succeed in annoying the Superior even further, which would definitely not be a good thing considering the amount of trouble I was certain that I'd already landed myself in.

I waited for him to continue.

"It has come to my attention that perhaps the best method of teaching you such lessons that will assist in making you the best member of Organization XIII (Which is, of course, Xemmy-speak for that he thought I had a childish attitude and being punished in cruel and unimaginable ways were sure to drain me of all originality so I ceased to annoy my fellow members.) is to let you…learn on your own," the gray-haired Nobody before me sighed.

I paused momentarily, blinking. Learn on my own? "…Did you have anything in mind, Sir?"

Xemnas nodded slowly. "Indeed I did. It is my belief if you were to take some time to go visit a world of your choosing by yourself, and fend for yourself there, you might return to us, ready to quit being such a…nuisance." And there was the word I'd been waiting for. He'd said it for lack of anything better to call me.

Still, his words grasped my rather short attention span immediately.

"You mean like a vacation?"

"I prefer to think of it as a lesson-learning experience for you."

Trying not to grin, as I figured that might provoke Xemnas into changing his mind, I gave a nod to Number I, standing up from my chair and exiting the room.

---

"I hate you."

"I know."

"No. I seriously loathe you with every non-existent cell in my body."

I was conversing with Number II, who would be Xigbar for those deprived souls of you that don't already know that small tidbit of information.

In the past, and even still today, I've counted one of the questions to consider as one of life's little mysteries as: How in all the worlds did Xigbar ever achieve the second rank of the Organization?

The Freeshooter was every bit as lazy as I was, and he had a frightful tendency to act before he thought anything out.

I'm not saying he's a bad fighter, because he really knows how to kick ass in just about any situation.

But come on? For him to be the leading rank, other than Xemmy himself?

If Xemnas sent _Saïx_, for instance, on a mission, the berserker's reply would more than likely end up being "Yes, my liege."

Now, on the other hand, say you want to assign Xigbar a mission. The sort of reply common for him was something along the lines of "If you weren't superior, I'd shoot you."

My point here is, you wouldn't expect Xemnas' second-in-command to make for a great friend—if you could really consider Nobodies capable of befriending each other, that was. But hey, if Roxas and Axel considered themselves best friends, Xigbar was probably about as close a friend as I could consider.

Now, if he's such a great friend, you're all probably wondering just why he stated he hated me.

Please. That was sarcasm…well, mostly sarcasm, I hope.

I'd just finished explaining in detail to him the morning's events and my so-called punishment from our Superior.

The terms of the agreement that Xemnas and I had come to were that I was allowed to leave the World That Never Was. In fact, I was _required_ to leave it. I could choose any world on the map that I saw fit to visit. There were no missions expected of me, no killing requirements in order to add hearts to our Kingdom Hearts—nothing of that sort.

I didn't even have to have any of my superior fellow Nobodies there to keep an eye on me. The only other thing Xemnas demanded was that I not come back until I felt that a valuable lesson had been practically branded onto my brain.

It was like being condemned to heaven. I'd just scored a vacation, free of nagging, missions, and carnivorous plants.

"I work my _ass_ off on missions twenty-four hours, seven days a week," Xigbar grumbled. "You go around soaking members of a higher rank than yourself, and waking up cannibalistic freaks like Saïx with your inconsistent screaming, and you get a _vacation_."

He had his arms crossed as he hung upside down to talk to me, a habit he'd once confessed to me that he suspected he'd had as a child and a Somebody. He said he vaguely remembered hanging upside down on monkey bars on a playground.

Old habits die hard, I guess. I myself still remember running out of a bathroom stark naked, my wet and bubble-bath covered hair fashioned into a mockery of the style it now has at this moment, as I declared to the house and everyone inside it that I was a rockstar.

…I've still not mentioned that to Xigbar, and have no desire to do so any time in this lifetime.

Xigbar studied me for a moment, before a wry grin twisted its way onto his face. As dismayed as he was to find out that I was getting time off and he wasn't, he still had a liking for every devious misdeed I committed on a daily basis. I suppose my face must shown that I was, in fact, just pondering another devious act, because it was what he inquired to next.

"You're not even planning to take your own Gummi ship, are you?"

"Nope," I answered, nonrepentant.

"Then whose are you taking?"

"Oh, I think I've got a good idea…"

* * *

**A/N:** For me, Demyx and Xigbar would so obviously be best friends. Like Cyborg and Beast Boy on Teen Titans. 

Of course, I also once declared that Sebastian, yes, the same Disney Sebastian-the-Crab you're all thinking about, was my 'Wakka-in-a-shell'. Don't ask.

I have one little thing to say to those of you who aren't reviewing simply because of the fact that I said I wanted reviews before I updated: Get over it. In life, you have things _demanded_ of you. If you don't want to review my story, that's fine, but I've got better things to do than listen to you get in my face because I said I wanted five little reviews.

Oh, and by the way--the reviews are to help_ me_, not torture you. If I see I'm getting reviews on a fic I haven't updated in awhile, it helps remind me to cut a slice of time out of my tedious schedule to please all my readers. Yes, I usually have more than the amount I asked for before I update, but I start working on the update once I see I've got my necessary amount. I'm slow. You don't get onto turtles because they're slow. Don't get onto me.

So for all of you who're wondering, I'm still doing my usual five review requirement. If you don't like it, I don't really care. I just want a little positive reinforcement to help me keep my writing in gear.

And now, thank you to all of you who did review! Yes, it's finally time for the review responses.

(In response to Skydra and Crystal: o:

Thank you. Oh thank you so very much. Of course, don't think I want you to die and have me be the cause, but I'm exceedingly glad you enjoyed my story. And oh dear sweet Lord, THANK you for giving this story its first review! Don't worry, I do plan to continue!)

(In response to Reading Chick: xD

Ha. I'm glad you didn't run and scream. Because if you had, then you wouldn't have read my story. I hope chapters to come continue to keep you interested in this story!)

(In response to Xaldin's Girlfriend: .o.

-bows to the applause- You flatter me. And oh goodness. I do look forward to reading whatever XaldinXBelle fic you come up with. The pairing simply strikes my interest...I've no idea why, but it does. Not only will I read it, but I'll review it too of course. NobodyXPrincess pairings are always the best...save for Larxel, which I'm afraid I love almost more than I love chocolate, which is seriously saying something.)

(In response to odi8200: 8D

Why thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it.)

(In response to organization-mischeif15: B3

I'm afraid I enjoy tormenting poor Demywemy a bit too much than is healthy. I certainly hope you enjoyed this chapter! And who _doesn't_ like Vixen's stories? It's like saying you don't like breathing, which would be preposterous...unless you were someone with an odd phobia of air or something of the sort.)

(In response to mynameisriku: xD

Lawl. I'm glad you think my story kicks ass. I haven't had much free time recently, but I'll certainly read your story whenever opportunity allows!)

(In response to Constance Greene: x3

Your review about made my heart leap. Long reviews tend to do that to me of course. It pleases me to know that I'm keeping dear little Number IX in-character, and that the characters randomly thrown in there weren't terribly out of place either. Parts of my story might have made you laugh, but your responses to the parts you put in your 'Neat-o Quotes Time' made me nearly spit water out all over my poor cat. Rambling is fine by me, as I'm prone to do it at an average of ninety-six times per day.)

(In response to Tomkitty13, a.k.a. Malleh-wa: xDDD

Thanks for reviewing Mal. And yes, I use big words because I like big words. You should know that by now. -snickersnort- And now I've updated. So now YOU need to update.)

(In response to goddess of trix: .

I can understand your loving of Demyx. He's so adorkable, it's like he's one big love-magnet. I'm so glad you liked the chapter. And yes, I'm afraid it is my first time in first person, unless you count a few random school essays I had to write.)

(In response to Bishieluver01: BD

By all means, you can feel free to use whatever parts of my story you'd like! You don't have to give me credit if you don't want to. I don't freak out much about that kind of thing. I do hope to go far in this fanfic. I've roleplayed the plot with a friend of mine recently, and even if I don't stick to precisely what happened in that roleplay, at least I've got ideas to assist me, should I ever get stuck.)

(In response to O o: Dx

First off, I have no plans at all for an argument with you. I'm not going to start up a 'bitch-fest', as you so poetically put it, because I'm lazy and you're stupid. No questions asked. I've already shared my ideas on this issue you've brought up. Don't call me a hypocrite, dear. Call me a child if you will, because--OHMYGAWSH--I AM a child. But don't insult me by saying I'm hypocritical. I always hold up my end of the bargain, even if it's somewhat later than promised. I do my story as I go, and I have plans to finish it. I have ideas saved from a _roleplay_ to help me. Oh, and by the way. Next time you decide to insult me, you might keep in mind your own spelling. It's '_I've_ got', not '_I_ got'. But hey, I'm only a child, so what would I know? Thank you for your wishes of good luck, in any case.)

(In response to Viktor Mayrin: .3.

EEEEE, VIKTOR. It's been AGES since I've last been in touch with you! Mwaha. I'm ecstatic that I've hooked you. Yay me. Crackalicious? Oh dear. I think my chair's about to break, I'm laughing so hard.)

(In response to Kyllex of Darkness: 8D

Omgsh, Kyellex! I haven't talked with you in about forever and a day! And heck yes. Marluxia rules ALL with his carnivorous plants of DOOM. Aheh...I probably shouldn't have eaten those brownies. By golly, I'm hyper. But oh yes, I'm glad to hear you like it!)

Phew. That was a lot of responding to do while sneaking on the compouter at almost four in the morning.

**_Yes, I still want five reviews before I update. If you don't want to contribute to those, that's fine, honestly. I only ask for them to keep me going. Anyways, Happy belated New Year to all of you!_**


	3. Departure

**A/N:** Oh gosh. I'm really sorry this took so much longer than is usual even for me, okay? I haven't had hardly any time to myself at all lately, and I've been sick again as of late.

And this time, I actually got admitted to the emergency room of a hospital, where I was forced to wait for four hours and then had to leave without anyone seeing us when my mother was told it would be another four hours.

Review replies are, as usual, at the end of the chapter yet again.

I tried to make this one a teensy bit longer than usual for you all. I'll state more at the end of the chapter, just so you all can read and everything, so...xD Yeah. Enjoy, everyone!

* * *

**Departure**

It would seem that all Gummi ships are, as a matter of fact, _not_ created equally. Huh. Who would've thought?

Xigbar was one-hundred percent on-the-dot in his guess that I wouldn't bother to take my own Gummi ship when I gleefully departed for my much-appreciated vacation—Or as Xemnas so choicely called it, my so-called 'learning experience'.

It wasn't necessarily that I loathed my Gummi ship. Heck, I didn't even dislike the old thing. It was simply that it was to me what a tricycle is to a fifteen-year old—full of cheery and exciting memories, but utterly outdated. Unfortunately for myself, Xemnas happens to resemble the parental kind of figure who never really notices when it's time to move on and purchase (or more likely in our case, steal) a newer transportation device.

My Gummi ship has no name. Or rather, I was not allowed to be the one to name it, as Saïx just so happened to be the one who assigned me the vehicle that day. I've honestly no idea why he thought me irresponsible to the point of being unable to name my own ship, but in the end, my only options were either to take the vehicle without any particular name at all, or have 'custom742' printed on the side in big, black, Arial font letters.

My outdated Gummi ship also happens to have no turbo boosting abilities, and I'm almost convinced that Xemnas had Vexen lock the autopilot on the thing, seeing as no matter how many buttons I push, I've yet to find out just how to make it obey whatever direction I steer the wheel to. All I'm really able to do with the old thing is type in the destination I want to arrive at and have it take me there at its slow, unexciting pace.

To take 'The Nameless One' would be such a spoil on my otherwise bright-seeming vacation. Weren't vacations for Somebodies supposed to involve beaches and bright red convertible sports cars with the top rolled down?

The only thing I could do to come anywhere close to achieving the sports car portion was to, of course, take someone else's Gummi ship. It wasn't like it would be too sorely missed, as none of us were busy to the point where we were working ourselves to death (ha, as if that could actually happen). I also suspected that Xemnas probably wanted me out of here with as little drama as possible, and so no one would be allowed to hunt me down and scold me anyways.

And so, I paced down the blindingly white and shining floor, too used to the scenery to pay any attention whatsoever to the swirls of black, white, and gray upon the skillfully sculpted columns that were bunched together close enough to form the walls of the gargantuan room.

Normally, there's no actual reason for most of the rooms in the Castle That Never Was to be as huge as they are. But this room (Xemnas calls it 'The Room of Departures and Returns'. How's that for an airport name?) had an excuse, as thirteen towering, shimmering vehicles lined the walls.

I must say, on a whole, I'm fond of all of our Gummi ships. They're the only real source of color in the whole blasted castle, our only real means of expression. For instance, Larxene's Gummi ship is a yellow that's bright enough to make your eyes bleed. Is it sheer coincidence that the blonde sadist has somewhat of an obsession with blood? Mine happens to be a soothing indigo, Axel's is a fiery red, and…well, I doubt Marluxia's pale pink needs to be explained.

Every single Gummi ship in the room was colossal, hence why it was necessary for the room to be so big. After all, there needed to be some way for one to depart from the castle and the world without taking out half the ceiling. Although…it probably wasn't necessary for the Gummi ships themselves to be so huge, but what can I say? When you're left without a heart, you tend to want as much as possible to make up for it, and we Nobodies often stick with the phrase 'the bigger, the better'.

In other words, we just really like big stuff. No, really. You haven't exactly witnessed all of Organization head out to this rather interesting place called McDonald's in this one strange world. Holy cripes. I'm pretty sure the entire meal ended up being super-sized.

Of course, we haven't been back there since. Roxas got the super-sized cup—that really more resembled a gallon, give or take a little—of this ridiculously sugar-loaded beverage by the name of 'Mountain Dew'. He was bouncing off the walls and using the prefix 'Mc' before nearly every other word. Needless to say, Axel slammed his own empty, super-sized cup over his blond buddy's head to finally make him shut up, and Xemnas decided that we going without a McSugar-rush would be a wise choice for awhile.

With the 'bigger is better' philosophy in mind, it shouldn't be very hard for you to guess why I immediately set out for the largest ship in the entire area. I stood before my prize with an unmistakably excited gleam in my eyes, before sauntering up the walkway without another moment's hesitation.

Yes, Lexaeus had turned out to be the poor, unfortunate victim in my little hijacking scheme.

I wasn't too terribly worried—or worried at all, in fact—that he'd pummel me into the ground for taking his prized vehicle. A common misconception about Number V is that he is a violent, mindless meathead. I can honestly say that he is not a meathead. It's really just plain rude to assume that he is just because of his physical appearance. No, the Silent Hero is in reality one of the more patient and tolerable members of our Organization.

It is Lexaeus that often gives the tours to new members of Organization XIII—and I guarantee you that is no easy task. It took somewhere around seven and a half hours for him to show Roxas every nook and cranny in the entire building, most of the cause behind that being that the youngest blond Nobody was constantly prodding and questioning if there was something by the name of 'Sea-Salt Ice Cream' anywhere around here.

Whenever Saïx is resting from his Hulk-like Berserker freak-outs, and Xemnas is too busy reciting honeyed words to his Kingdom Hearts as though it's some kind of house pet (I've said that Superior is a good leader, and really, I mean it…but I never did say he was completely right in the head) Number V often comes to assign me my missions, which is…also not the simplest commission in the world.

We've already discussed the fact that I'm considered to be the annoying one in the Organization, and I also have quite the reputation for being a procrastinator, not to mention a lazy-ass. Getting me to actually depart for my mission within a day of receiving it is actually an impressive feat, and Lexaeus, with his patient, silent ways, often succeeds.

Of course, that could be partially due to the fact that I really dislike silence for long periods of time…and short periods of time...or any amount of time, truthfully.

Regardless, my point is that there really was absolutely no need whatsoever for me to fear being punished by Lexaeus in particular for taking his Gummi ship. I could already picture his reaction as I opened the door at the top of the walkway that led to the inside of the vehicle.

He would more than likely come into the room, looking for his Gummi ship, needing to get out of the castle for an hour or two simply because he's the kind of not-quite person that needs a little time to himself every day. Then I'm sure he would notice the miniscule fact that his Gummi ship was no longer there, and being able to put two and two together, he would give a heavy sigh and simply turn on his heel to head back for his room.

I cannot deny that I felt a little stab of guilt for taking advantage of the Silent Hero's passivity, but I figured I would pay him back later, somehow or other. Besides, before you start discussing what an inconsiderate jerk I am, you really should know that I'm not to blame entirely. I'd bet Axel's chakrams (I'm not quite willing to go to the point of betting my own precious Sitar) that _you_ would do the same if you ever caught a glimpse of the guy's Gummi ship.

Once actually inside the aforementioned vehicle, I inhaled deeply, blinking once or twice as a grin began to spread across my face. Number V did an excellent job it would seem, in keeping that 'new Gummi ship smell' lasting.

The actual roof of the Gummi ship was perhaps two stories high, with a resting quarter on the upper floor. No chair was without a cushion (and a vibrating option, I'm fairly certain), no particular side of the vehicle without some form of air conditioning.

There was even a television near the actual control system of the ship. Are you listening to me? The man installed a _television_ on his _Gummi ship_! Xemnas hasn't even done that with about ninety-nine percent of the Castle That Never Was, discounting Roxas' room. (Roxas only had his own television because he begged, prodded, and pleaded until Superior could stand it no longer and actually forced Zexion to go and use his manipulative powers to steal a high-definition tube for the Key of Destiny. Of course, the rest of us—yes, myself included, as much of a shock as that is—knew better than to go pouting and begging from Xemnas after that. The only reason Roxas had been heeded to was because he's of such importance to our Organization.)

Hmm. Briefly, I wondered if the television possessed cable. Ah well. I'd find out sooner or later, I was quite certain.

For those times when he needed a small little pick-me-up, Lexaeus had even put in a mini-bar in one corner of the ship, full of everything from brand-name beers to high-quality white wines that had been carefully stored for a few decades. When you've been dead for awhile, collecting certain things as a hobby is quite an easy feat.

Of course, I had plans to keep as far away from alcohol as possible. I'd only ever tried any once, back when Luxord returned from a recent trip to Port Royal with an entire barrelful of rum. No, I'm not exaggerating. The guy literally teleported back to the castle with his face flushed, words slurred, and clinging to this huge barrel of alcohol-and-sugar-mix like it was his pride and joy.

"Hey, Squirt," Xigbar had snickered, watching as the rum flowing through his veins finally became a bit too much for Number X, causing him to slump to the floor snoring, asleep before he even hit the ground.

A frown had tugged at the corners of my mouth. He knew quite well that I hated it when he referred to me using any sort of nickname—one can only go on being called 'Shrimp', 'Squirt', and 'Mullet-boy' for so long before the aggravation begins to build up.

"What?" I finally inquired with an overly dramatic sigh. The downside to befriending Xigbar was that he tended to flaunt his status as a higher-up of the Organization every so often, just to prove he was still next-in-command and could get away with doing pretty much whatever his little non-existent heart desired.

The Freeshooter shrugged, scratching casually at his scar before continuing. "So, the thought just occurred to me—what's the strongest thing you've ever drunk before? Sparkling apple juice?" he snickered.

My mouth opened once or twice in response as I gaped like a fish out of water. You see, on the rare occasion that I ever get exceptionally annoyed at someone, a nasty habit of mine is usually to stay silent and leave my mouth agape like an idiot. I've always hoped I might get over it one day and be able to unleash the ever-impressive kick-butt fury that Axel and Saïx have mastered so well, however different they are from one another, but no. I still stand and stare, looking more like I'm in desperate need of getting oxygen to my brain than actually getting frustrated with a person.

I continued to do my fishy-stare at Number II until I finally recovered my voice, furrowing my eyebrows as my tone oozed a certain amount of incredulity to it.

"As _if_!" I sniffed, making it obvious that his assumption had insulted me by stealing his infamous catch phrase. "I can handle my liquor just fine, thank you very much! As a matter of fact, I used to be a wine taster," I insisted, the phrase 'used to' referring back to Somebody-times.

As it was, they happened to be _imaginary_ times of my Somebody's past. I was lying through my teeth by saying I'd been a wine taster. I had never had a drop of alcohol touch my tongue in either of my lifetimes, and Xigbar was more correct with his sparkling apple juice assumption than I was willing to admit.

I couldn't just stand by and let him taunt me though. In most cases, one would think that my abstinence was to be expected, as I'm fairly certain that I'm only seventeen by Somebody standards. However, juvenile delinquency back when one had a heart is smiled upon by our Organization. If you had never tried some form of booze by my age at the very least, whether it was before or after one was killed, you could almost never live down the taunts that came your way.

I desperately hoped that perhaps Xigbar would just take my word for once and leave my painstakingly obvious lie about being a taster of wines alone and not probe for depth for a change.

Unfortunately for me, no such luck came my way.

"Oh _really_?" Number II smiled grimly, doing that odd little eyebrow quirk that he mastered awhile back that allowed him to both look doubtful and raise his eyepatch a little higher at the same time.

I forced a grin on my face that I was certain probably resembled more of a grimace. "Yes…really."

"Well, you never did mention that little fact before," Xigbar remarked casually, blinking his available eye in a confused fashion once or twice almost as though he believed me. And then the usual suspicious, confident grin returned as he knew he had me cornered into my lie like a rat in a trap. "Perhaps you could show off some of these amazing liquor-holding abilities of yours?"

I swallowed once, before deciding it was too late to back out now. Oh, how I was going to get Xigbar back for this.

But seeing as I was powerless at the moment, all I could do was hold my head high and nod once to the Freeshooter before walking over to where the barrel stood, while Luxord lay on the floor, forgotten in his drunken stupor.

Popping out the cork that had been lazily jammed into a hole in the barrel, I simply twisted the liquid from its spot in the barrel and up towards my mouth, my powers making it so there was no need for a cup. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad, I thought optimistically. Now I could honestly say I'd had a taste of booze before—heck, maybe I would even find I liked the stuff.

My stomach obviously disagreed with my sanguinity. The stuff came gushing back out like Niagara Falls along with anything I'd previously eaten that day, landing on the otherwise spotless floor in an interesting display of color. My mouth seemed like some unbearably sour and vile taste was now stuck in it, and I stumbled back a few steps, wheezing like a chain smoker.

"Dude, it looked like you were barfing up the rainbow or something!" I remembered Xigbar laughing while I moaned in dismayed certainty that I was suffering a second death from that wretched, horrid taste.

With one last half-hearted glare at Lexaeus' little mini-bar, I decided that reminiscing time was over, and that it was now the moment to get this show on the road.

Glancing over the constantly flashing controls that consisted of buttons and switches for only an instant, I hit the biggest (there went that philosophy regarding size again), bright red button out of all of them, smiling as the adrenaline and euphoria rushed through me while the Gummi ship gave one bone-shattering roar before settling into a quiet purr as it rose steadily, increasing in altitude by the millisecond.

Ha, and they thought I couldn't do anything right. I'd hit the right button for take-off at the very least, hadn't I? Of course…the fact that there had been a rather large label directly underneath it on which was written the word 'GO' in big, careful, capital letters might have had something to do with it.

As I settled into the chair nearest what I suppose would be considered a 'windshield' in ordinary terms, but really resembled more of the thick glass used to keep all the tons of gallons of water in aquariums from spilling out, I set my eyes on the thing in the Gummi ship that was the true reason I had chosen this particular vehicle as my means of transportation.

The cushioned chairs and air conditioning were definitely nice bonuses, but there was only one real thing I had my sights set on when it came right down to it: the sound system.

It was breathtaking, set carefully in the middle of the gargantuan dashboard, with speakers creating a full circle around the means of transportation. They were all set a certain amount apart from each other, vaguely reminding me of how jewels in watches or bracelets are often prized because they make up such a perfect, undisturbed loop. With every aspect of it sleek and smooth and modern, it was a sound system enough to send any music-lover such as myself reeling back with envy and a desire to try the thing out.

I tore my gaze away from the blipping chart that showed the progress of my—or rather, Lexaeus'—Gummi ship as my fingers immediately flicked the on switch on the system, and I fumbled through my coat pocket to triumphantly extract a rather shabby, old CD, one that I had burnt every song onto myself. It had to possess more songs on it than a four-gig iPod could ever hope to match up to.

I slipped the disc into the CD slot eagerly, one gloved finger shuffling through the many songs I had stored up as the times passed while I searched for the one song in particular that I was looking for.

All of half a second later, the song had been located, and the fast-paced drum beat of a particularly well-known rock song lasting around three minutes and forty-five seconds by a band by the name of 'Twisted Sister' began to practically glide out from the heavenly speakers.

I like almost any kind of music, you see—I've listened to pretty much everything from Aerosmith to Zao. However, I normally just simply stick to good old modern day rock music (Which should explain to those of you wondering why I prefer my Sitar instead of a _banjo_.), not the outdated hit of 1984 that I was listening to at the moment. However, I figured that my departure called for a rebel anthem, even if no one else but I was around to hear it.

Returning my attention to the aforementioned blipping chart, I inhaled a wonderfully refreshing breath as I realized that I'd made it out of the atmosphere of the World That Never Was, and was now officially on my path to freedom.

Just before my ever-ready finger hit the button selecting a particular island paradise with peculiar-seeming palm trees, I paused, another world demanding my easily-caught attention span.

It was…rocky and miniscule from the tiny, miniature view of it that the screen provided. But it had blue. A _lot_ of blue. It's not like there was anything wrong with my favorite color managing to catch my eye, right? I stared at it intently for a moment, unintentionally beginning to smile even wider. All of that blue could only be ocean. Remember that strange world with all the McDonald's restaurants I mentioned? The view of it from the Gummi ship was practically blue all over, and I'd felt as though we were taking a straight trip to heaven as all the seas and oceans and rivers became apparent while we drew nearer and nearer to the world.

But of course, we were only going to that world to forcibly take our dinner and nothing else. The only water-related thing I even managed to catch a glimpse of was the run-down water fountain at the restaurant.

Recalling the philosophy of convertible sports cars and sandy beaches, I eagerly jammed the button in, gripping the wheel tightly as the purring ship sped off towards my newly chosen destination. I already had the sports car thing taken care of by this point, so nothing was left but to find my watery paradise. The other tropical island had seemed promising, but when one tends to be a hydro-fanatic like myself, you not only want things bigger, but you want the _most_ too. Though, albeit, my selected blue-filled world seemed lacking in the shining white sand of the other island, I wasn't worried about the land-conditions, really. It was the water I was focused on.

---

All of thirty-six minutes later, I had arrived in a world that apparently went by the name of Atlantica. I did not, as you might have expected, practically leap from the walkway joyously and begin lazing around instantaneously while I still refrained from learning anything that even slightly resembled a lesson, as Xemnas had hoped, though.

It would seem that I had already learned a valuable lesson by this point, though nothing of the sort that would convince me to head back to The World That Never Was just yet. I forcibly unpeeled my shaky, gloved hands from the wheel of the Gummi ship, face white with just a tinge of green as I struggled not to repeat my 'rainbow-barfing' scene from back when I'd foolishly taken that drink of rum.

I had come across the rather unfortunate discovery that because I have been stuck on autopilot on my own Gummi ship for so long, I was…not quite ready to begin manually driving Lexaeus' Gummi ship just yet. Interspace, you see, is a very deceitful place. One moment, I was cruising along easily enough, head bobbing pleasantly to my defiant hymn. And then there came the meteors.

I might suspect Lexaeus to be pleasant enough about me taking his vehicle right now, but I _really_ wasn't too keen on finding out if he'd still be as laid-back were I to accidentally have it turned into a load of spare parts because meteors crushed it to bits.

On the bright side, I had managed to escape the sudden eruption of countless, hurtling meteors without so much as scratching the paint job. But I hadn't been able to do so without taking a death grip on the wheel and clinging to it for dear after-life while the Gummi ship spun around more than the Tilt-a-Whirl ride at an amusement park.

It had gotten to the point where I finally determined that jamming my eyes shut would do just as much good, and it wasn't until I'd felt the vehicle come to a complete, gentle stop that I dared to lift my eyelids from their wedged-shut position, so I could see what lay outside the window while I attempted to stop shaking all over like a leaf.

I saw…blue. I don't mean it was as though everything was _tinted_ blue—I'm saying it was as though there was one big, endless expanse of blue that could have stretched for miles and miles without any end whatsoever. It couldn't possibly have been water that I was staring at. It was much too clear for that, as though the Gummi ship had suddenly decided to land on something solid in an otherwise immaculate cloud-free sky.

In my half-way delusional state from the shock of the Gummi ship ride, I began to panic instinctively. Panicking is what I'm good at—besides running, of course. Forgetting all my previous dizziness and airsickness from before, I rushed to the doorway, hoping that what I saw wasn't just an empty, clear-blue world of nothingness. I had had _enough_ of dealing with nothingness. This was supposed to be my vacation!

The minute that the doorway opened, I learned that I had been quite wrong about my earlier assumption. It _was_ water. And suddenly it was rushing into the Gummi ship; the sudden loss of cabin-pressured air popping me out from the vehicle and into the vast ocean like you would a cork from a wine bottle (Maybe that wasn't the best analogy, on the other hand, considering the mention of wine made my stomach habitually clench up at the mere thought of alcohol). My alarm rose tremendously as I heard the door to my means of transportation slam shut at the sudden intake of water, and it wasn't until several moments later that I realized another unfavorable detail: I was here, in some unknown ocean. There was no land in sight and as I dared a glance up to the surface through terrified eyes, it became apparent that there _was_ no surface.

Ordinarily, I enjoy swimming, for obvious reasons. It's been something I've been able to do since before I can even remember. Diving was pleasurable to me as well, considering memories from my time as a Somebody occasionally come back to me every so often, revealing times when I had gazed in child-like wonder and joy at the undersea marine world that lay just beneath the surface of the ocean every time I visited the beach.

But this was obviously no day at the beach currently—I kept my jaws clamped shut tightly. Contrary to popular belief, we Nobodies do need to breathe. Or at least…I do. I've heard rumors (And one can never quite tell what amount of truth lies in rumors you hear from Xigbar) that some of the higher-ranking Nobodies don't rely on such a human performance as breathing. Saïx and Xaldin, the Freeshooter had continued to tell me, were allegedly to the point of being near-invincible. Supposedly, nothing could make them kick the bucket other than being defeated by the Keyblade itself—which just goes to show one more reason why everyone strives to keep Roxas satisfied. Perhaps it has to do with just how easily one accepts the fate of being a Nobody, and all the ideas of being emotionless and lacking of a heart and compassion.

I have never exactly tried to hold my breath to see if I'll keel over and dramatically expire or not, though, so I very well could be mistaken. For all I know, I might just be knocked unconscious or something of the sort. However, I've got no plans to try and see what result will occur. I held my breath while I remained frozen where I floated, grimly certain that my face was turning blue while my lungs cried out for fresh air.

I could take it no longer. My head was starting to feel faint and light and I dazedly thought that I would surely go into blissful unconsciousness…or death…either way. To appease my lungs' demands, I finally exhaled, inhaling while numbly bracing myself for the rush of salt water that would surely begin to burn my lungs any moment now.

Yet strangely enough, from the instant that I began inhaling, I found that the water was as refreshing as any oxygen could ever be. Blinking in a dumbfounded manner, I waited only a few more seconds from that one breath before gulping in the water, deciding I could afford to breathe first and ask questions later.

My head was slowly beginning to clear, and I found I could look around now without being so panicked. The fact that this was water and just not an empty world made my situation about a hundred times better. Water tends to have the ability to make things appear more desolate than they really are.

Something suddenly occurred to me in that moment, though: I felt about ten pounds lighter than usual. Not that I'm all that heavy to begin with, if you take into account that I was killed during that awkward growth spurt that every teenage boy goes through, in which they eat enough for six elephants and never gain an ounce. Glancing down curiously, it seemed that I had lost something in being shot like a bullet out of the Gummi ship…and I'd gained something, too: A tail. I had a flipping _tail_ (And that's an adjective that you could take in the literal sense if you prefer.). I don't mean a furry, twitching feline tail. Heck, I'm not even referring to the constantly-wagging, joyous tail of a dog.

I mean I had a full-out, long, slick tail, gray in coloring and complete with about five fins on it total—two on the front side, one at the very end, and two down the back of it. It took up my entire lower torso, I swear. I stared at it in what can only be described as a state of utter and unadulterated shock. Holy. Freaking. Crap.

I wasn't sure at this time whether I'd wound myself up in my own personal heaven or hell. I figured that maybe exploring this location just yet wouldn't be the wisest choice. Maybe I could go back to the Gummi ship and relax on there (Or flop around, depending on if I turned back from my fishy state or not.) until I was ready to venture out into the open in this watery setting.

In fact, that plan was starting to sound remarkably tempting, and I was slowly turning my half-way fishy body to face the vehicle—and then I heard it.

It was a sound unlike anything that my ears had ever borne witness to before. It was long and flowing, sweet and melodious. It was most definitely a tune, one that I was, strangely enough, unfamiliar with, and we've already discussed my knowledge of music. But best of all, it was just so…breathtaking. Words could hardly even describe it, the way it twisted and flowed, bringing a joyful, content mood all its own as it penetrated all throughout the ocean from wherever it was originating.

It was rare that I ever heard any pleasant sounds back at the Castle That Never Was. I'm the only one that's ever played any music in our little fortress, or at least I'm the only one who's ever done so recently. I can't speak for the times I wasn't here, but somehow, I highly doubt I could go into a discussion regarding scales and notes and clefs with Vexen, while he's so focused on his stuffy labs and test tubes.

I hadn't even sung in years. No one had ever really wanted to hear me. So I'd been stuck simply listening to other music and practicing my Sitar from day to day.

But this sound...it was so whole and complete, so unlike anything that I'd heard in ages.

It struck me then, that it was a voice. The noise had been so superb at first that I'd scarcely even paid attention to just _what _it was. But the more I listened, transfixed, the more certain I became that it was somebody singing who was actually the cause of this sound.

My interest was sparked, my attention grasped fully. I would stay in this mysterious water-world, at least for now. Slowly moving ahead, moving slow only for the sake of not sending me spiraling while using this newly acquired fishy tail, determined to find who was responsible for this astounding sound I was hearing.

* * *

**A/N:** So, did you all like it? Have a favorite part? Enjoy any particular quotes? 

Okay, so I'm done probing with my questions. Ask any of my friends who sometimes pre-read what I write--they'll tell you I ask the same thing. Every. Single. Time.

In any case, I noticed how many of you seemed to enjoy the conversation between Xigbar and Demyx in there, so I tried to fit our dearest Number II in there again somewhere.

Because this took so long, I'm only going to need one review this time. Yup-yup. And since people are so intent on ripping out my jugular vein with their snippy comments about how I require reviews, I figure I'll do something to appease them just this once. I'm in a good mood for reasons unknown today anyways.

Omgomg. I was actually reminded of Skittles in one part of this chapter. The line just popped up in my head and I _had_ to fit it in there at some point...x3 Oh, I'm sure you all know the line I'm referring to. I can picture the new commercial now: 'Skittles--Barf the rainbow!'

Heh. Points to you all if you can manage to guess what song Demyx was listening to in the Gummi ship.

You all know that I can't give away any spoilers so far, but I think it's safe to say that Demyx will FINALLY be meeting Ariel in the next chapter. Wewt!

Ch'yeah. So. I'm done wasting your time with all these little tidbits of information. It's time for the review replies now!

(In response to: Viktor Mayrin

Heh heh. Yes, he's STILL my Wakka-in-a-shell. But I don't want to scare you off by telling you the whole story. So. MOVING ON.

Yes! That's what I've always thought! I adored Xigbar before his hood was even off, simply because all the aspects to him are just so...amusing. He simply kicks butt. He's got a smart mouth and physical prowess at the same time. Of course, he was also the easiest member for me to beat on Kingdom Hearts II EVER. Yeah. That might have had something to do with why I enjoy him so much. Of course, then I saw him reveal that face of his, and...strangely enough, I still liked him. Though one would never think so at first, his looks do seem to fit his voice after a time.

I'm so glad you enjoyed the crazy-but-somehow-probable situation of Xigbar and Demyx being friends. And don't worry. I'd never pair them with each other romantically. oo Ever.

If you're as white as alabaster, I've reached the level of being white as my danged computer screen on particular days when this beast decides to enjoy freezing up on me. Peh.

I'm so glad you enjoyed that scene! We all know that Smashmouth's 'Allstar' would so be his theme song if there were ever to be a motion picture for him. (And Dyme, Myde, Demy, Emyd--xD I think I've heard it all by this point.) )

(In response to: Jessica

I never said I don't like criticism of any kind, dear. I happen to enjoy criticism. When it ACTUALLY relates to the whole point of what I'm WRITING, that is. -shrug- But it would seem that you're only focused on my author's notes--and how messed up is that? I'd like it a whole lot more if you'd just say what you liked or didn't like about the actual fan fiction.

I happen to like getting reviews before I move on. I'm sorry if that's a crime. I just have hardly any other life at the moment and reviews send me into joy-induced seizures.

Here's the thing: Yeah...I'm not planning to ever become a professional writer. Not now, not ever. I write because I enjoy it as a hobby, and nothing more. I like hearing what people think. I know very well that an editor would probably chuck my story out the window and run over it with an army tank if they got the chance, but I don't ever plan on taking any of my works to an editor, now do I?

I do keep up on my end of the deal though, that's the thing. Ah well.

Oh, and by the way--replying to reviews at the END of a fan fiction is allowed. Or at least, it's not disallowed. I did a little researching and only disallows your entire story being nothing but review responses. And I'm not doing that. So...yeah. I'm not breaking any rules. -nods head-

In any case, I thank you for your two-cents. Here's mine right back at you. xD I wish you the best of luck as well.)

(In response to: Kyllex of Darkness

Oh Kyllex. xD I'm still just as happy as ever that you're enjoying it so far.

And thank you! oo;; Even though it's taken me so long to update this that now I've been fourteen for over two months...)

(In response to: Ritsuka-kun 17

GASP! Another Demyx fangirl! Heh. I like Marluxia too at some points...just not as much as I love Demyx. And Axel. And Xemnas. -sheepish grin-

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

And--OMG, COOKIES. -tackles them happily before looking up- :3 Thank you! -chucks a slice of ice cream cake back at you-)

(In response to: Akarxii

I'm really glad you like it. I try really hard to fit (my pitiful attempts) at humor in there, so it's good to know that it actually is making someone laugh for a change.

I will definitely try to keep it as awesome as I know how for you!)

(In response to: CSOmega

Lawl (my rather weird version for 'lol' xD). Holy crap. 'Nougat of Naught'? That's a storke of sheer brilliance, that is.)

(In response to: GreaserGurlTerra

GREEEEASEH-WA. -tackles you like the insane friend that I am-

It's offical. You and I are going to have to try and draw our dear Xemmy eating a Snickers one day...either that or we could always tie Issa down in a chair and just make her do it. Though she's probably already ready to kill me for asking her to draw so much stuff as it is...Heh.

Ah, yes. Xemnas really doesn't know the word 'vacation'. Of course, he'd probably get a headache at picturing all the things Demyx would do if he flat-out told him he was getting an actual vacation, so that explains it. xDD Poor Xemnas.

-gigglesnort- We all know Xigbar doesn't REALLY work his ass of though. He just likes lying about it so he has an excuse to complain. I mean, we've all seen the way he acts in our roleplay. xD Lazy, wise-ass, for sure.)

(In response to: Tomkitty13

Grrrr. You've yet to do that tribute YET, and already you're talking about making that XemnasxSaix tribute to those Grease-musical songs? Gosh. And you complain about ME getting stuff done slow.

Aw, but you know I'm just giving you a hard time. xD I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much, Maleh-wa.)

(In response to: Constance Greene

You missed my fic? SCORE. It's really nothing special, but I'm so glad that you do like it! And yup--well...technically I'm fourteen /now/...xD But either way, that was my age at the time of _that_ chapter. Gasp-eth! Mint cookies?! Mmm. As a matter of fact, I've tried some mint cookies. Haa...yes, I've had good times with Thin Mint cookies that Girl Scouts sell. I probably buy too many boxes of those than is healthy. D: But gosh darn it, they taste good!

Gah, cheater. ...x3 You know I don't mind if you cheat though. -cheats on those sorts of things all the time-

You really think so? I just try to go with whatever writing flow comes to me. Writing a fic in first person is turning out to be surprisingly easier than I thought it would be, and I'm becoming oh-so-addicted to the description I'm able to put into my writing through it now.

Yay for more neat-o quotes time! oo -dances-

Holy cow! You really don't think I exaggerate them? I worry that I do sometimes. Gosh, I didn't know what to think of how I wrote Xemnas. I wasn't sure if I was making him too interested in the situation or something of that sort! I've never really tried to write as him before, so it was definitely an interesting challenge, trying to get his character just right. But so long as I know you don't hate him because of the way I portrayed him, then hey, I'm happy! And heh--I was giggling insanely at the misery I was putting Demyx through, having to deal with all of that Xemmy-speak.

Geez! xD I just keep getting happier and happier--especially seeing as you're one of the many who actually enjoyed my insane way of making Xigbar and Demyx friends. There's just something about the two that meshes together in the way that best friends do, though I can't really put it into words. I'm glad Xiggy was so talented on the monkey bars--I can't hang to save my life. It always ends up with my winding up in some sort of painful position or other.

Ha, no, the ever-popular Darkness was not stolen from Vixen's absolutely amazing, awe-inspiring masterpiece that is Repercussions. I would feel so incredibly guilty for ever taking something so original from her, even if I did ask her permission in advance. I'll need to think up a name for Lexaeus' ride, soon, though...I only just now realized I left it out.

xD Hope this length was a little better--I'm trying to keep my attention span focused for longer than I usually do.)

(In response to: dm416

Aheh. Yeah, I know, my mind works in weird ways. I'm glad you still like it though!

And as I was having a hard time thinking up who could possibly be Demyx's victim in the Gummi ship madness, I remembered your little request, and thus fit Lexaeus in there just for you! D: I hope I didn't totally butcher his character for you.

I'll definitely have his Sitar in there more often. o.o I'm not too sure if he'll be beating Eric with it, but I'm sure the thought just might flash across his mind once or twice. -snickersnicker- )

(In response to: goddess of trix

Thank you!

And awww. xD I am really glad you think so. It's just gotten increasingly easier--I'm practically addicted to first-person by now, I've got to say.)

(In response to: The Unknown Alias

Why, thank you very much! I try to make it as interesting as possible without overdoing it or anything. The pairing just sort of occurred to me one day while I was outside doing yardwork. Yes. Yardwork. I guess it was because Poor Unfortunate Souls came on my iPod at the time, and I was probably half-delirious with heat, so...xD Ha.

I've sort of got it planned out as to how the events of Kingdom Hearts II will work out with it--just a vague outline in my head, really. And my friend and I have kind of roleplayed this little plot of mine out too, so hopefully I won't get too stuck on anything.

As for one-sidedness, well...Heh. I won't reveal too much now, but there's a good chance of it--of course, I'm also already even thinking about a sequel for when this is finished, so you never know.)

(In response to: mynameisriku

Strawberry-scented? xDD Ha! Hee. It just might be. I was thinking blueberries, but you can never be too sure! -giggle-

You think it needs something? What do you suggest? xD I'll try and fit anything in if I can--and I hope this chapter was a little more filling for you.)

(In response to: Gutterflower Skellington

HA HA, SCORE. xD Yet _another_ person who doesn't think I'm out of my mind for picturing Xigbar and Demyx as good friends. -high five-

I'm so glad you enjoyed how I've portrayed him so far, I'll try to keep it going in the same manner!)

(In response to: Shadowsonicstar

Yes, I'm afraid that ArielxDemyx fics are few and far between. :D Hence why I decided to go on and get my lazy butt up to write one!

-furrows eyebrows determinedly- I'm definitely going to try to get over my slow updating habit. xD Thanks for the review!)

(In response to: MimiB.Real

EEE! -squees at the prospect of having found another Demyx/Ariel fanatic like myself-

You really like it that much? Gosh. xD I think you just seriously made my day.

Oh geez... Thank you so much!)

(In response to: Vixen2004

OMG. OMG. OMGSH. OMGAAAAWSH. VIXEN. -tackleglomppouncecling-

The minute I got your reviews, I think I literally screamed with joy for half an hour straight.

You like it? You really do? I feel flattered beyond words, as it is. This fic is still practically in your honor, as it were, considering you're the best writer of the century, not to mention one of the very best friends too.

-nod- I had fun portraying Xigbar--and still am, for that matter! It's fun watching him become the main villain of Repercussions, and fitting as well, but considering a certain blubbery octopus will probably be the central villainess of this particular plot due to unavoidable circumstances in The Little Mermaid, I couldn't help but go back to my slight affection for the surfer-dude member of Organization XIII and portray him as a friend of Demyx's.

Lord knows, Demyx needs a friend, I pick on him so much in my spare time.

Ah, Demyx wasn't the only one having a field day with that little description. I don't think I was able to stop laughing at that point when writing about Xemmy's office. My mother is probably wondering if she needs to get some serious medication perscribed to me or something.

Aw, shucks. xD You're making me blush again. I've always enjoyed Marluxia...he has so much depth to him as a character. Not that the rest of them don't, of course, but he simply has more than usual. He comes across to me as so self-confident and so...well, graceful, as his name obviously states. And of course there's the hair. I have to respect a man that wears pink and manages to not come across to me as a homosexeual.

Did you enjoy Lexaeus' little Gummi ship descriptions? I'm afraid they were probably horribly bland, but I did the best. xD Rest assured, I don't think I could ever steal one of your original vehicles. They're too brilliant for a second-class writer like me to snatch them up and completely ruin them. Besides, one fault I admit openly is that I'm not original enough. I'm trying to get over that, so coming up with a description for a Gummi ship that hasn't yet been portrayed was a nice first step.

In any case, I'm still squealing over here at the fact that you like it. I'm so psyched to get around writing the next chapter--I can finally get around to the long-awaited meeting of Ariel and Demyx!)

**_Right. So all I need this time is ONE little measley review. I know that's hard to believe of me, but...yeah. I hope you all are enjoying it so far!_**


	4. Meetings

**A/N:** Dear God. I can't do anything on time. I offer my most sincere apologies to all of you who bother reading this, and I have been so frustrated at my procrastination and at my stupid honors high school classes that result in me making mounds of note cards that are depleting oxygen and causing the hole in the ozone layer to grow larger with every passing day. Biology sucks, and this, my friends, is why I have never been particularly science-centric. Ugh.

But I had to update this; I'd rather let myself rot before this goes down the drain. To make it up to all of you, I made this chapter just slightly (and I do mean slightly) longer than all my others have been so far, and I make a solemn vow to start updating faster. Right after I get back from Disney World, which I am leaving for tomorrow night. Thanksgiving break is so undoubtedly awesome.

Oh yeah. And he meets Ariel in this chapter. Does that help save me from being speared onto a pitchfork and having my organs roasted on a torch? I sure hope so.

I'm so happy with all the reviews I've been getting on this story so far. xD It's great to know that so many of you are enjoying this. I like hearing what people say about my writing, and I would especially like to thank Vixen for being so supportive and not bringing out those aforementioned pitchforks in regard to how slow I've been updating this. I met her in person, folks, I really did. It was a grand honor on my behalf and I nearly squealed for half an hour straight when she showed me an edited picture that she got printed out at the nearest Wal-Mart in support of Waterlogged. I dedicate this chapter to her partially because of that, and partially because she was just about ready to strangle me for leaving off at such a cliffhanger in the previous chapter.

Also, you can blame my slow progress on Death Note. L-addiction is unhealthy, folks. But oh so rewarding; no matter the fact that he probably unknowingly is making the number of teens with juvenile diabetes skyrocket. And Ouran High School Host Club is lovely, too. Mmm, Kyouya...

But I digress. Here is your latest chapter in Waterlogged; I do hope you all enjoy! Reviews are still much appreciated. They keep my lame excuse for a social life going. x3

**

* * *

**

**Meetings**

As Nobodies, religion is an uncomfortable matter of discussion for us. We don't often mention it to any of the other members, and it's never brought up in meetings. Since we've discovered the meaning of the 'afterlife', it would seem that we all just don't see fit to discuss the Lord and his plans for us. I mean, once you're _dead_, what's the point?

It's really rather sad, though. Aside from my memories of my own stark-naked butt running through the house with wild dreams of achieving rock-star fame, I'm pretty sure I came from your average religious family. That is, we went to church and stuff. I was Christian, I'm certain of that much. I was never one of those people who shoved religion down other people's throats, though—since when do I ever shove anything down anyone's throat? Aside from my music. If you don't like hearing that, then I'm afraid you're screwed.

It was fun while it lasted. I recall something about being in my church choir; Mom always loved hearing me sing. Which is funny because no one certainly loves it now. But I suppose I really can't complain. I'm lucky to even be a part of the Organization. _They're_ my family now. And this is the way we do things. Then again, those church picnics were a lot of fun too. I never did get around to learning much of the actual Bible, though—I couldn't tell you the differences from Noah and George Lopez.

Yeah, that'd be a riot. Can't you see it now?

"Name one person in today's world who you can compare to Noah."

"…Um, George Lopez?"

Pause. "And why is that?"

Oh crap. "I, uh, don't know…are they both Mexicans?"

Insert loud and obnoxious buzzing sound right here. I said that my mother was proud of my singing voice; I never did claim to have the best grades in the world. That alone would have not only gotten me kicked out of whatever Sunday school I went to, but I'd have received a big, fat F in Social Studies, too. I'm not so great with accuracy about ethnicity, as you might be able to tell.

I was a pretty happy-go-lucky kid. For all of you who believe that I couldn't possibly be any worse than I am now, just think: dying really has an impact on a person. This is practically me depressed. Some days, I really regret having taken up Xemnas on his offer for me to join Organization XIII. I mean, I could be making so much money elsewhere. Like in a Zoloft add. The only one who could possibly rival my initial cheeriness is Roxas on one of his sugar highs. And even then, it's doubtful whether Zoloft would allow him into their commercial or not.

Would they count Mountain Dew as an illegal drug in his case? TV studios usually aren't allowed to promote drug endorsement on TV. Roxas plus any sugary, cavity-causing beverage would violate several federal laws right off the bat.

No. My Zoloft job position would be untouchable, even by the Key of Destiny.

Now, where was I before I started talking about Noah's Ark and Mountain Dew? Oh, yeah. Religion. The big, bad, scary topic that (most) everyone is afraid to confront (most) anyone else about. Especially in my little cult. I make it sound serious and imposing and threatening, eh?

Like I said, none of the members talk about it much anymore. It would surprise me whether any of them even believe in God any longer. Ever since death, most of them have simply gone atheistic—which is totally and completely understandable. When you look at it from a Nobody's perspective, well, why shouldn't they? We're the ones with the short end of the stick over here. Nobody told us that we'd be going on after death without a heart. Without a soul.

And it makes one wonder: what did _we_ do to deserve this?

Sure, Larxene's a sadist and Axel was either a former arsonist or a guy who just _really_ had a fetish for blowing stuff up. …Come to think of it, the majority of my fellow Nobodies aren't what you'd call 'normal'. But then we bring up the whole let-he-who-is-without-sin-cast-the-first-stone topic (Oh, would you look at that? All those years of Bible study really did teach me something. Mom would be proud). Were we really all so bad in our past lives that we deserved this? God must really have some major beef to pick with us.

Then again, it's been repeated by Xemnas and countless others that we were chosen for this purpose because we were the strongest. We're supposedly the _best_. If our hearts weren't strong enough, then we wouldn't look like we do, wouldn't be who we are. There are many Nobodies. But apparently, we're the only ones capable of any thought process. This is the closest we come to crossing back to the other side.

When one considers that we're basically being _punished_ for being _strong_, it's no wonder that everyone in the group (so far as I know) doesn't believe in God anymore. Or any higher power, for that matter. No one wants to think that their omnipotent superhero hates them and oh-so-graciously bestowed this curse upon them.

But what about me? Well, we've all seen that I'm different. I've certainly never discussed faith with my 'friends', but if, say, a stranger off the street came up and asked me…I'd have to say that I still believe in God (And I am sure that my fellow Nobodies would then proceed to taunt me accordingly to the fact that I am supposed to be killing random passerby instead of holding a conversation with them). Is it possible for there to be another 'other side'? I sure hope so. That'd be nice, actually. If this whole Kingdom Hearts plan doesn't work out, and everything goes on, I think I'd like to discover that I was right all along; that there's still a place without problems and grief and stress. And with hearts. The only thing I wouldn't be able stand would be seeing another hollow chest cavity. That'd just be a little too cruel.

I'm sure you all are about ready to steal Xaldin's weapons of stabby death right about now, though. Sorry. I'll move right back along to where I last left off in my strange, underwater vacation.

Well, I found the source of the voice. And the entire reason for my going off and discussing religion with you at the beginning of this chapter is so I can truthfully tell you: there is a God. Or some mightier deity. It honestly doesn't matter whether we're talking about God, Zeus, Allah, or Kira here. I can just promise you that there is some supreme power out there, and they are _kind_.

I can't honestly tell you how long that I had to search before I came across the source of that miraculous voice. It truly brought the meaning of a 'siren song' into perspective—I nearly swam headfirst into about three rock structures, if my memory serves me right. It was a good thing that my ears are more reliable than my normal sense of direction, otherwise I would truly have gotten lost in the big expanse of blue.

On several occasions, the voice actually stopped, which was enough to almost send me into a state of hyperventilation. If that voice had stopped for good, I would have been hopelessly lost for the rest of my not-quite life, as my luck seems determined on being bad, though my intentions are always good. I probably could have wandered on for the rest of eternity in the blue void and never so much as stumbled across my stolen Gummi ship again. Axel, on the other hand, could probably have teleported to my exact location on a sheer bout of instinct, made some snide remark at my expense, and then found my only means of transportation and taken off in it to leave me stranded. In two minutes.

Fortunately for myself, the pauses in the voice were never very long, and always it started up again soon after. The singer sometimes seemed as though she began her song again from a slightly different location, which led me to wonder just why she kept stopping in the first place. The pauses and breaks seemed to be more for convenience I realized, as though they had reason to be suspicious of something. Or someone.

Along with the fact that it would leave me stranded for all time should the voice stop before I reached it, I also felt an inexplicable sadness at the loss of the song. It had been _years_ since I'd heard something so…nice. Despite my inexplicable knowledge about Middle C and pitches and whatever all else the music world has to offer, I've never focused much on the thought of it being used for therapy. I always was just convinced that if such a thing ever worked we would have tried it on Saïx and his anger-management issues a long time ago. 'Custom742' my butt. That guy holds a grudge for far too long.

And I would suggest that we try such therapy methods, should they ever have been successful, on Larxene as well. But she'd probably get mad. And blow up whatever means were used for playing said therapy music, _again_. I recall that we tried taking her to a professional shrink once, who really just turned out to be Vexen in one of his white coats. It is now that I vacantly start to wonder if perhaps Xemnas' fetish-obsession with all things cut in half is really him reminding us of our non-existence as Nobodies, or if perhaps he's just suffering from a decided cheap attitude.

Either way, as one might imagine, our little Nymph got mad. Not many experiments present in the old nut job's lab survived that day. Axel snickered and drawled out commentary. I cowered appropriately.

Back to what I was saying before: I _did_ manage to stumble across the source of that miraculous, awe-inspiring voice before my heartless cavity of a body grew aged and crumbled away into nothingness. Not that I'm sure how much aging it takes before we crack apart like dry mud. I don't exactly like to think about it; such thoughts are better left to Marluxia, who had always been graced with his natural affinity for things relating back to the earth, including mud, as well as his natural gift for makings all his words honeyed and sweet. Even when such words were often better than any blade for stabbing one brutally in the back when one least expected it.

I found her just as I turned around another corner, and to my great surprise, such a meeting came with a butting of heads. No…literally. As in, I just happened to turn when _she_ just happened to turn, and our foreheads collided in one rather painful series of events. Both of us staggered back (if it is at all possible to stagger underwater, that is…) and my gloved hand flew up to my poor forehead which, if you'll recall, had already been grievously wounded on the dashboard of my—that is to say, Lexaeus'—Gummi ship. As the pain shot through my cranium, my eyes jammed shut. Much more of this and I was going to have a permanent indentation on the skin covering my skull, which would match quite nicely for when Larxene and others of the group take to calling me mentally incompetent.

I know I'm not the brightest crayon in the box, but I still have just a teensy weensy bit of dignity. Being made fun of isn't all that pleasant, and leave it to me to be the supplier of ammunition for all of it.

I could tell right away that I must have found whoever had been singing, so at least my head wound had bore me some fruits for my pain; the lovely sound had been brought to an unexpected and untimely halt by the collision. That could only mean that whoever the poor other victim was in this headfirst clash had been the source from which the melody I'd been hearing had continued to flow from.

"Ouch, that _hurt_! Oh, I need to get home soon. Sebastian'll _kill_ me if I'm late for rehearsal one more time…"

Unusually, the inexplicably sweet tone that had been in the unknown girl's song was still with her in her normal speaking voice. For those of you with little vocal knowledge or who aren't at least musically inclined, please know just how rare that is. When you hear anyone from a rock star to an entire choir singing, voices just don't normally sound as they would were someone holding a natural conversation with you. The entire purpose of singing is to disguise our imperfections in speech in such a manner that it makes it art. A thousand times a day I have acknowledged that my own speaking voice is far too nasally, almost whiney; I just happen to be skilled at covering it up whenever I am given a rare opportunity to sing without the threat of being disemboweled.

My curiosity further sparked as it mixed with the initial tug that such a voice had given me in the first place, I opened my eyes.

What I saw before me wiped out any atheistic thoughts that might have unknowingly plagued me in the depths of my sleep thanks to Xemnas' brainwashing and Saïx and Xaldin's constant affirmation of such apathetic beliefs. What I saw before me wasn't just a girl—or a mermaid, actually, as she had a tail just like my own and seemed to be several times more at ease with using it. She was a goddess who just happened to have wound up in this big, blue world, probably by a series of events much more intriguing than my own had been thus far.

It wasn't just the fact that her cheeks were tinged with the blush that comes not from humiliation but childlike excitement, or that her scintillating hair fell down to her back like a thousand rubies all joined together, or even that her upper torso was clad in nothing but two seashells like the classic buxom siren that every hydrophilic young man dreams about at least once. All of those things were not the main cause for why my throat suddenly closed up, my eyes widening even as I courteously averted them when I realized just how much those sea shells (or, more accurately, what they covered) could draw attention.

It was the way that she was staring at me out of those eyes bluer than the ocean itself while she rubbed subconsciously at her own forehead. She looked irritated and frantic and beautiful all at once, and I was (possibly for the first time in my life _or _my non-life) struck speechless.

A curious feeling seemed to be pounding from within the hollow space that is my chest cavity, and the fluttering sensation I felt down in my gut is what I think some people refer to as 'butterflies in the stomach'. The sight of this one red haired beauty had suddenly given me belief in several different gods at once. Vaguely I can now recall Luxord mentioning that there are supposedly such types of pagan deities in one world in particular, and that although certainly not perfect, they purportedly possessed gifts and abilities far above those of the average mortal. I would have left then and there and found my stolen choice of transportation at all costs if only to go pay these alleged gods a tribute, but that would mean looking away from _her_. And that was something I wasn't willing to do just yet.

Faced with a beautiful red haired mermaid who looked more than slightly annoyed at the fact that I had ran (swam) headfirst into her, I managed to self-consciously stammer out the most intelligible thing that came to mind: "My bad." It was better than _gobbledygook_, which had been my second choice.

Her eyebrows, which were akin to the color of her tomato-red hair, furrowed at this. Either most of her mermaid friends weren't as divine as she came across, or the girl was wondering if I was mentally competent. I wasn't entirely sure that I had an answer to the latter at this particular moment in time.

Without warning, her facial expression abruptly changed to offer me a pearly-white smile in place of the rather aggravated stare from before. Even though it had seemed impossible, she looked even prettier when she smiled. It caught me further off guard, for you see, I never did once suffer to any sort of crush back when I actually had a heart. Although always polite, I had just never succumbed to puppy love. I wasn't sure what a first crush was supposed to feel like, or if it was entirely possible for me to be feeling anything at all. If only Xigbar could see my face now.

_Whoa, little dude, try and stay out of her pants for now, would you? You've only just met._

_Xigbar, she's not _wearing _pants!_

…_You've got to get me a picture of this._

_What?! But—no, you don't understand! I wasn't even thinking like that in the first place!_

_You're seventeen. _Sure_ you weren't._

This didn't help with the beet-red stature of my own face. Even from thousands of miles away, across all of interspace, Xigbar was still finding cruel and unusual ways to humiliate me. I found myself almost writhing shamefully under her smile, feeling as though I didn't deserve it. I tried to keep my eyes from wandering too far up or down, finally finding solace in a lone piece of seaweed trapped underneath a mound of pebbles.

One good thing about my both my active singing interests and my overactive imagination was that it made it easy to picture almost any of my friends with me, even in my loneliest moments. I could see them in my mind's eye, or _hear_ them, I should more accurately say. That was good for not forgetting people. But it was really bad for when you wanted to make a good impression on a girl that's already got you gawping like an idiot and all you had was perv-speak from Xigbar reverberating throughout your brain. Yes, apparently he's reached the point of achieving his own language.

His language just happens to consist less of world(s) domination and more of altogether perverted things. And the guy is, like, almost double my age, I'm sure. How wrong is that?

Sometimes I just have to wonder about myself and the people that I call 'friend'.

It was then that I realized the beautiful mermaid before me was speaking again and I kindly put my thoughts on pause. Not that it was an action that took a lot of effort, as most of my thoughts seemed to consist of an oh-so-original "Uhhh…" Wonderful. All that was missing was a little stream of saliva trailing down my chin and I could come across as some sort of new marine vegetable.

"Hey, it's all right—I should've watched where I was going, too," the girl admitted without the least trace of the hesitation and embarrassment that I felt. When the only response that I could manage to that was an uncharacteristic nod and clearing of my throat (And I'm so certain that every female out there in the worlds has been waiting all their lives to hear me cough up phlegm. Right.), she seemed only to study me over as though for the first time. I knew that I'd certainly done my fair share of studying her from my very first glimpse.

…That was _not_ meant to sound the way it came out. Gosh _darn it_ (hey, I'm not as big on profanity as my cohorts are, okay?), I bet I've been spending too much time with Xigbar.

Her smile widened a little, and had I been in possession of a heart, I think it would have skipped a beat. Or, you know, just melted into one big puddle of soppy, lovesick goo like the rest of me. Although I didn't realize it at the time, I was ready to go jump off the nearest undersea canyon at the smallest order from this unknown girl.

Whatever her impression of me was, her assumption didn't seem to be what I had feared it might: that I was dorky, unattractive, and so therefore unappealing as a result. It was all the things that I knew myself to be, though I would never admit it, for maybe I didn't want to admit to such an immense lack of confidence either. They say laughter is the best tonic to everything; I would assume that it covers up any deficiencies in self-reliance. I certainly do laugh a lot.

She actually went so far as to look pleased to meet me, which was a completely new concept to me when I am faced with twelve other members who all act as though my being alive (sort of) is a sin some days. "I don't think I've ever seen you around here before. Where are you from? What's your name?"

Never before had I had a problem with speaking my mind when I could be certain that my life wasn't on the line for it. Humiliation was nothing new to me, but in front of total strangers? Eccentricity was my identifying quality, being myself was simply what I did best even when I should have been busier thinking quietly to myself and pondering our very existence without hearts, as Xemnas would probably prefer.

I had been grateful for this sudden vacation. Never mind that it was supposed to be a learning experience; I was about as concerned with my behavior as a five year old is when they succeed in swiping a piece of candy from their local gas station. If no one is there to teach them any better, then they simply can't feel repentance. And technically, I'm not supposed to be able to feel anything anyway. Whereas it's doubtful that any one of my fellow members of Organization XIII would spend even five minutes worrying about behavioral problems, were they in my position, I didn't worry for a completely different reason. They were all strong and apathetic. I simply believed in the power of an individual to the point where I tended to disregard rules just a tiny bit more than I should have.

But suddenly her innocent, curious questions had me feeling ashamed of my exile. As big as I am on honesty, telling the truth didn't seem like the right way to go in this case. It wouldn't make her smile widen. Then again, didn't lying just make me worse?

Either way, she couldn't possibly handle the truth: that I was a rambunctious, noisy, unscrupulous seventeen-year-old who was stuck in a heartless limbo and therefore had no choice but to steal hearts in the hope of regaining what I had been denied. Normal people don't tend to take well whenever we get around to stating our occupation. Apparently Xaldin, when visiting one of his favorite worlds, miscalculated his distance once, and ended up closer to the nearby peasant village of the aforementioned world than the large, imposing fortress that was supposedly all but impenetrable from his descriptions.

The Whirlwind Lancer claims to be intrigued at the infectious spread of feelings like hate and rage in this world, but I'm fairly certain it's all got to do with a secret love for singing silverware and dancing brooms. My idea of research is to go consult Zexion whenever faced with one of life's questions that prove to be a bit tricky, as he is most likely to answer me and has little real temper despite his lack of patience. And according to him, inanimate objects in this world that Number III seems so infatuated with talk and move around like any other person would (apparently due to some curse from long ago). The minute that he mentioned their tendency to spontaneously burst into song, I found myself wondering exactly why Xaldin would waste his time in such a place.

As you get spontaneous songs in every Disney-esque world, I chalked it up to fetish and let the question rot from that point on.

Anyway. The end result was apparently a lot of screaming and shouting from the aforementioned townspeople and quite a bit of accusation of witchcraft. Xaldin got chased out of town to a rousing chorus of "_Kill the beast_!" (and I do mean chorus as in 'from a song', too; that's apparently how obsessive the Disney worlds can be when it comes to accordingly finding a song for every moment of every scene) which I found remarkably appropriate. I did not ever tell this to Number III though, lest my eyeballs be in danger of being speared and/or shish-ka-bobbed.

I've always been the one most nervous about killing people. My regard for human life used to be so strong—the first few times that I was ever sent out on a mission, I stopped sleeping for a week straight. I never did admit this to anyone save for Xigbar, but I cowered under my bed covers that entire seven days. My usually ravenous teenage-boy appetite (being perpetually stuck at the age of seventeen means that, unfortunately for the rest of the members of Organization XIII, I eat like some weird crossbreed of a starving cow and pig and never feel completely full afterwards) was turned against me, and it was the only time that something ever truly made me feel as queasy as my one bout with alcohol ingestion did. Even then my old friend poked fun at me for it—but somehow his tone lacked conviction. I think he's one of the few that truly could understand my predicament. Heartless and cynical and crude he may be; but emotionless Xigbar is not.

He never has filled me in on the details of his own early days as a Nobody, but I've recently begun to infer that perhaps his first days weren't quite so comfortable either. He's been with Xigbar since day one in the whole study of the heart's essence and watched our once well-meaning leader turn into the raving lunatic—well, the man _does_ seem to stay out under a full moon a lot and worship it, even if it's a heart-shaped full moon—that he is today. A lot of things have probably been harder for him than they are for me. That's just one more reason that my unquenchable optimism doesn't allow me to dwell in the depths of self-pity very often.

I found a sudden urge to cry out that my name was Edym and I was a rock star well on the path to fame and fortune and that I had come from some small little town where dreams really did come true, and possibly then I could continue on to ask if she perhaps had a boyfriend. Oh, and I would include that I definitely did _not_ go sick my dancing minions of doom and destruction on various worlds to rip people's hearts out of their chest cavity for my own personal gain.

As it was, my brain had yet to get a jumpstart recovery and I was left staring blankly before finally blurting out at least half of the horrible truth; luckily my mind had not abandoned me so much that it would allow me to spill the beans on my unfortunate current occupation. "I'm Demyx, and I came from…er…ah…" I'm sure she found my coherency to be astounding and breathtaking all at once. If you count inhaling H2O as breathing.

But she only beamed, which made me further melt into a pathetic, insoluble puddle at her tailfin. "Erah? Oh, darn it—I've only gotten to visit there once on a business trip with Daddy, and that was only when I was nine…but it's nice to meet you, Demyx from Erah!" the red head babbled.

I put on a forced, nervous smile. Thank the kind deities for dumb luck and unfamiliar underwater geography.

She never seemed to run out of things to talk about, which I would have realized was a quality that I like in a girl had I had any experience before to compare. As it was I could only hold on to her every word as she opened her mouth again, like she was some sort of all-knowing wisdom spirit. "My name's Ariel. I really hope I didn't cause you any trouble, and…" Her sentence trailed off as a shadow of worry passed over her unblemished face. Although I could certainly see no one around, she was apparently as worried as ever. "Look, I'm really sorry, but I've got to go now! I can't be late again. Maybe we can talk some other time?" As quick as lightning, she was pushing off with her tail and starting to glide away from me, her abilities much more efficient and expert than my own, although maybe that was just because she had probably grown up her whole life here under the sea rather than been thrown into it fifteen minutes ago.

For unknown reasons, a wave of frantic anxiety hit me full-force. I didn't want her to leave just yet. I had only just met the girl and to have to split up and go separate ways would put an extremely depressing start on what was supposed to be an exciting vacation. Or lesson-learning experience. Plus, it would probably result in me getting hopelessly misplaced in this big, wide world.

"Ariel, wait!" I called, swimming after her. Without meaning to, my hand brushed against her wrist as I subconsciously reached out; whether or not she had planned to stop, the sudden flush on my cheeks from the contact must have confused her to the point where she was curious enough to listen to what I had to say. I tried my best to keep eye contact with her, but she seemed so authentically innocent and doe-eyed, and whenever at all I tried to avert my eyes elsewhere without reverting back to mere scenery, I could still hear Xigbar's taunting voice in my mind.

I let one hand rub my head woefully. "Why did it have to be _seashells_…?" I groaned.

Apparently I didn't utter this inaudibly enough, for she cocked her head to the side. "Hmm?"

"Oh, nothing!" This came out more like a squeak than actual human speech, and from that point on eye contact was no problem whatsoever. It was probably better that she not think me to be some creepy pervert; my eyes were practically bulging from my cranium, but it wasn't because of any dirty thoughts, I swear to you. More than likely it was just from my humiliation at my own lack of communication skills.

I opted to change the subject. "I was sort of, um, lost before I ran into you. I've never been away from…Erah before, and my family isn't around to give me any directions." Referring to the Thirteenth Order as my family left a funny taste in my mouth. It was like calling a tiger at the zoo your house cat, or saying that some pop star was your sweetheart even when you had never met them personally.

Past that, I wasn't sure of what to say. It would seem rude to come directly out and ask her to show me around. I definitely didn't want her to feel forced into anything, especially not if my head-on collision was making her late for something important. There were several questions that she could possibly have asked from my inexplicable presence out in the middle of nowhere, and I found myself dreading what would happen if she actually inquired any of these things from me.

But the one thing that did seem to occur to her as unusual more than anything else was what I had been least expecting. "Your family isn't around? You mean, they just sent you here by yourself?" Her bright blue eyes that seemed such a contrast to her red hair widened considerably. It was as though this was something that she had never so much as heard of, as though I had told her that my father ate puppies for a living or something of that sort. Which I wouldn't put past Xemnas (or Saïx), but I thought it wise not to tell Ariel this.

She looked me up and down several more times and made a tutting sound of disapproval in the back of her throat. Her head shook slowly, but she looked as compassionate as a schoolgirl that found a lost, half-drowned kitten out in the rain. And suddenly, she was smiling again. I was rather caught off guard by her sudden and unexpected mood changes, but at least I wasn't required to say anything else that might make me look like an idiot in front of her. "You can come with me! I bet Sebastian won't mind having someone listen a little ahead of time! That silly old crab is always going on and on about how he wants someone's honest approval," Ariel smiled proudly, as though this was the best plan the world had ever been graced with.

I personally was just grateful that she hadn't turned down my small request. I did happen to wonder just where it was that she needed to get to in such a hurry and why she had called this mysterious Sebastian a crustacean. Mutely I nodded my head to show that this sounded good to me, and before I could register much of what was going on, the young mermaid had _me_ by the wrist this time. We started swimming off so fast that I nearly tumbled head over tail through the water, and only Ariel's forward momentum kept me moving onward and in a relatively straight line.

It was odd that a sort of silence should descend upon us then, as I had never been known for a lack of things to say, and this stunning, goddess-like figure ahead of me didn't seem like the quiet type either. But it did at least give me a chance to appreciate the finer scenery that I had missed out on in my earlier panic about the Gummi ship and my need to find the source of the wonderful voice. Everything was hued in a shade of blue, more or less, and colors were about ten times brighter. Colors. It was all so different from the World That Never Was and Xemnas' paint-deprived fortress of impending kismet that I simply couldn't drink in enough at once.

I had always wanted to end up in a place like this. Colors were more my thing than bland shades of black, white, and gray. Once I had even tried dyeing my cloak for myself, but that had apparently interfered with the Superior's dreams of universal sameness and I was considered a hostile, rebellious child who needed to be stopped at once. I was hollered at for twenty minutes straight and given a lecture in which I understood none of the Xemmy-speak, and ever since I've just stuck to my Gummi ship for self expression. I didn't even trust coloring up my room, since Vexen can be rather a snitch when he wants to and has a bad habit of snooping around the place when he thinks no one notices.

Marine life has always fascinated me—no doubt a trait from my younger Somebody days; I had vivid recollections of sticking my nose against glass panes in a trip to the aquarium and loudly remarking that I wanted a pet whale for Christmas—and there were fish all around, whichever way one looked. I was so setting out on a search for a whale now at the first opportunity. My cohorts could deny me a dog all they wanted, but I'd like to see them say no to me keeping a four-ton pet here.

Presently, I finally found myself craving some sort of conversation. My brain might still be half-dead, but it would be better if I showed that I wasn't mentally unstable. Not completely anyway. "I liked your voice," was the only thing that I could come out with, and I felt like smacking my head against the nearest rock formation. Other guys complimented a girl on her hair or her eyes, both of which were as gorgeous as Ariel's personality in this case. Who went around complimenting someone's vocal cords at the first opportunity?

Aside from me, that is.

"Thanks. I just needed to sing something without having Sebastian jump down my throat about tone and pitch," Ariel sighed. "He's such a nagging clam sometimes." Her nose scrunched up into a rather cute position, and although I was now wondering if clam or crab was to be taken in the literal sense, I was suddenly brightening as well when she didn't seem to shy away from the subject of music. Even better was what the red-haired girl stated next:

"This music rehearsal is going to be _such_ a snooze-fest."

A smile twitched at the corners of my mouth. I didn't want to come across as showy or stuck-up, but music _is_ my forte—you, friendly reader, should know that I don't exactly have many of those. "So that's what you have to go to? A music rehearsal, I mean?" The excitement just couldn't be kept out of my voice.

"Yeah. Sebastian has some new musical and he always forces me to star just so he can keep a closer eye on me…" As though she had suddenly said too much, she cleared her throat and turned to glance back at me once again. "Why, did you have something in mind?"

"I just thought I might show you a little good Sitar music all the way from Erah."

* * *

**A/N:** I liked quite a few things in this chapter, even if I believe the previous one is still my favorite. Erah...hmm. I pulled that out of my butt, I'm pretty sure. I'll bet it's a really fun place though, if Demyx lives there. It's probably as close to getting high as one can get without actually taking drugs.

Poor little Demy-wemy. So insecure around a girl. And yet I love him for it. xD I'm probably going to be flamed so much in this chapter (all of these flames so far have made me laugh) for bad characterization, but oh well. The medicine I'm on makes me almost constantly drowsy in a weird sort of way, so forgive me if my writing skills have hit rock bottom and grabbed a shovel.

Sorry to all you Xaldin fangirls, but I just can't bring myself to like the guy outside of Vixen's marvelous fanfictions. Not after he went and ordered Axel to go kill Roxas and threw a spear at his head. Grrr. So yes. A song-and-dance fetish is officially why Beast's Castle was the Lancer's world of choice.

If any of you were at all offended by the religious references, I do apologize once again. I'm not trying to offend anyone here; I don't even have an actual religion myself. Christianity is widespread here in Alabama (though perhaps that won't make a difference soon as I might be moving away from anyone and everyone that I know here and down to Arizona where the unfamiliar dry climate will probably make my eyeballs shrivel up and fall out of their sockets) and I have to at least act as though I'm in agreement with most of it lest I should be burned at the stake. But I suppose I'm a little bit of everything--I don't have a specific religion, as I would rather prefer taking in my views about it from all sorts of different ones and putting it all together for myself.

I'm not trying to start any major debates or bring anyone insult here, folks.

On a lighter note...xD I love Xiggy. He's such a perv. And he's the best ninja-pirate-surfer-dude EVER. If I could and if I was more original, I would dedicate an entire fanfiction just to him. Maybe one of these days I'll be able to. Alas, my brain is dying right now.

TIME FOR REVIEW REPLIES:

(In response to: Constance Greene

Gargantuan is undoubtedly one of my favorite words at the moment. I have no idea how I even learned it in the first place, but love it I do. Big words are fun.

I will definitely have to check out on this fic of yours. xD I swear I wasn't copying. It just randomly occurred to me and I'm happy to see that it wasn't some completely stupid idea of mine that no one else could understand and thus flopped as a result. It's always good when ideas latch on and spread like wildfire.

Ho humm. Demyx is sort of like a bad luck magnet. I think someone shoves him under ladders in his sleep. ...Roxas and Axel probably make a game out of it, actually.

Welp, I hope to hear from you soon. You are a major cause of improvement in my writing, especially so far as length goes.)

(In response to: Viktor Mayrin

OH, VIKTOR. You and only you can I forgive for the chatspeak. Then again I constantly slip into a few minor phrases myself every now and then, so I really have no right to talk and will promptly shut up on that subject.

You know I would have gotten you the Gummi ship if I could. Really and truly. No matter the fact that the post office would probably think I was planning on blowing up the country or something. I would have found a way. Somehow or other.

Le gasp! So you're ninteeen now? ): I feel so young. Grah. Maybe that'll be a good thing when I'm eighty and you're eighty-five.)

(In response to:)

xD Yes. I am.)

(In response to: CSOmeg

I'm glad you think so! I was really hoping that random scene I pulled from my mind would provide some amusement to people. x3 And peer pressure is bad, kiddies. DON'T LISTEN TO IT. ...Except when it comes to Death Note. As annoying as Light is, everyone should watch at least some of Death Note. If only for the wonders of L.)

(In response to: goddess of trix

Egad. I apologize for all these slow updates. Let's put the blame on Pence. Yes, Pence sounds quite nice. Stupid teapot. ...xD; You'd get it if you watched an old video of mine up on YouTube. Heh. Beauty and the Beast songs are fun.

And I should so get my new Skittles commercial idea patented and sell it off. You know they'd sell so many more if they used that one. It would at least get attention if nothing else.)

(In response to: Serenityxiii

GREASEH-WA! I missed youuu here on fanfiction. xD God, we're going to take over the whole internet, aren't we? You, me, and Vixen. That would be the best face-to-face meeting in the history of meetings.

I swear I'll put more Roxas references in there soon. And I'll review your fic soon. -has no idea why it's taking me so long-

Ha, I've got so many random ideas for this fanfiction that we never slipped into our roleplay. xD The next chapter's going to have me snerking, I can tell.)

(In response to: Anthrax Pretzels

Ah, you too?! I can't stand when people act as though there's absolutely nothing whatsoever in beween Demyx's ears. I mean, the kid was nice to Sora. Nice. What's so stupid about that? Sora was the dumb one in the Hollow Bastion situation if you ask me. Squeenix ruined what little respect I had for him after that. Now I'm a decided Organization XIII and Riku fangirl and I doubt anything'll change that.

But yes. :) I'm glad you enjoy my style so far.)

(In response to: Vixen2004

-tacklepounceglompcling- VIXEN, VIXEN, VIXEN. I updated, seeeee? Well, of course you do. Otherwise you wouldn't be reading this. I swore I'd get around to it before the new year if I had to kill myself in the process. Typing can be dangerous when you have a five month old kitten crawling all over you and nipping at your fingers because he's a freak.

Oh my Kira. Xemnas meets Edgar Allen Poe. That would forever reshape the literary world. We all know Xemnas would get more fangirls out of it. And then he and Saix can swap their emo poetry and pink bathrobes!

Only Xemnas probably only has half a bathrobe. ..

Barf the rainbow FTW.

:3 I'm glad you're starting to like Xigbar. You make me enjoy Xaldin against my will. It is payback at its fullest. (Actually I've always loved Xigbar and just express him as I see him and had no intentions of changing your mind, but am happy nonetheless.)

I so wish you were coming with me to Disney World. D: It just won't be as much fun if I'm thinking "Gee, it would be so much better if Vixen was here..." the whole time.

And I hate you too, only not really. Because our hatred still cancels each other's out so we're back to not hating each other. My logic is flawless.)

(In response to: mynameisriku

...Living is nice. :D Please let me live, because I updated again, even if it was probably the slowest update I've ever done.

And Lexaeus is wonderful. He needs more love, poor guy. Just like Demyx, his intelligence is underestimated far too much.)

(In response to: Kyllex of Darkness

Hey Kyllex! xD I'm so glad you liked it. And late reviews are fine. I mean...just look at how long it took me to update this at all. Hocrap.

Oh, and I did get your message on DA, and am thinking about joining the club. x3 I haven't made up my mind yet but that's only because I hardly ever _do_ anything on there and don't want to be a boring club member.)

(In response to: starshinesoldier

Thanks. And I hope to get my updating act together soon.)

(In respone to: Flame Rising

xD Normally I'm not one for chatspeak, but, oh wow, I just can't resist: LOL. This made me laugh so hard. I don't know if you were being serious or not, but I went into a fit of laughter. Insults amuse me, as I get enough of them off the internet and had no idea that people might feel so strongly about me on the internet too.

I'm sorry for insulting the clowns, honestly. But I'm afraid I won't be stopping updating and posting stuff. Sorry if this bugs you, honestly...xD I know I probably butcher the English language; you should see what I do to Spanish.

:D Thanks for making my day, dear. I'm bad at card games so I think I'll pass.)

(In response to: Bishieluver01

I don't think I'll be big on alcohol when I actually reach legal age. My father is, and he wouldn't have a problem in the least with me sneaking a glass of wine every now and then, I'd bet, but it just doesn't appeal to me. But dacqueries are good. At least, the non-alcoholic kind that I've tried. :3)

(In response to: olivia deloach

Thank you! But no, that's not the castle I'm referring to. Castle Oblivion is the one on the side of the road in Chain of Memories. The one in KH2 in the World That Never Was doesn't seem to have much of a name. xD; So I put my oh-so-impressive originality to use.)

(In response to: Crimson-Eyed-Angel99

Why thank you! I've tried so hard to go in-depth in this fanfiction; more than I ever have in the past, anyway. x3 And I'm a big fan of humor, so I couldn't help but make Demyx throw in amusing comments at any opportunity.

Hee. And no, Demyx was only seventeen (at least in my mind) when he died, so he couldn't have been a wine taster at all. Silly Demy. Little liar, too.

And Lexaeus is such a great big lovable guy. I want a plushie of him.)

Okay...whew. I think that's it. If there's anyone I've forgotten, I'm sorry. xD I'll try to get back to you ASAP. Reviews are still majorly desired and appreciated for this chapter, but I'll spare you anything mandatory by instead inserting cheap advertisement here:)

**_If you get the chance, you should check out these authors:_**

**_Vixen2004  
Constance Greene  
Serenityxiii  
Viktor Mayrin  
xcgirl08_**

Oh. And check out "Virtues of Alcoholism" and "Do the Math," two of my other recent fanfictions I've started up, if ever you get the chance. The latter features an interesting character, and Riku's point of view...xD And the former has Jack Sparrow. Not much more to ask for, right?

Honk if you think I should so go up to the nearest Ariel at Disney World and shriek to anyone within ear range that Demyx loves her!


End file.
